On the Determinacy of Monetary Policy under Expectational Errors

Forward looking agents with expectational errors provide a problem for monetary policy. We show that under such conditions a standard interest rate rule may not achieve determinacy. We suggest a modification to the standard policy rule that guarantees determinacy in this setting, which involves the policy maker co-ordinating inflation dynamics by responding to each of past, current and expected inflation. We show that this solution maps directly into Woodford’s (2000) timeless perspective. We trace the responses in an artificial economy and illustrate the extent to which macroeconomic persistence is reduced following the adoption of this rule.Expectational Errors; Indeterminacy; Monetary Policy Rules.

Livelli ottimali in funzione dei costi dei requisiti energetici ed edifici di riferimento

In ambito europeo i principi relativi al miglioramento della prestazione energetica degli edifici sono definiti nella direttiva 2002/91/UE (EPBD), così come riformulata dalla direttiva 2012/31/UE (EPBD recast). Tra i vari chiarimenti e prescrizioni, la EPBD recast ha introdotto a livello nazionale, un meccanismo di analisi comparativa con il proposito di determinare livelli ottimali di costo da utilizzare come metro per la formulazione di prescrizioni energetiche in ambito edilizio. L'articolo è incentrato sull'esposizione e sulla metodologia di applicazione da parte degli Stati Membri del quadro metodologico comparativo per il calcolo dei livelli ottimali in funzione dei costi per i requisiti minimi di prestazione energetica degli edifici e degli elementi edilizi, così come formulato dal Regolamento delegato (UE) N. 244/2012 e dalle linee guida (Orientamento della Commissione del 19 aprile 2012) ad esso associate, entrambi documenti emanati in ausilio all'applicazione della EPBD recast. L'articolo espone infine il caso italiano, delineando l'attività svolta da parte del gruppo di lavoro tecnico formato da CTI, ENEA ed RSE istituito presso il Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico, per l'attuazione della Direttiva 31/2010/EU: sulla base di quanto stabilito dalla Commissione Europea, tale gruppo di lavoro si sta adoperando per la definizione della metodologia comparativa da applicare ad edifici di riferimento su scala nazionale, al fine dell'ottenimento dei suddetti cost-optimal level

Natural Compounds: Molecular Weapons against Leukemia\u2019s

Nowadays cancer is one of the main reasons of death all over the world and it is estimated that deaths caused by cancer will grow dramatically in the next decades. Even if chemotherapy is the election therapy for solid tumors, as well as leukemias and lymphomas, cancer treatments are in continuous evolution trying to solve the problem of resistance mainly due to low accumulation of the drug in tumor cells (MDR). Natural compounds represent a valid alternative to treat several disease and recently the scientific community focus on these natural compounds and plant metabolites with therapeutic activities and low toxicities compared with synthetic ones. A combination therapy, that join conventional chemotherapy with natural plant metabolites, is now considered a new promising strategy to overcome MDR and reduce cellular toxicity; in particular, in leukemia due to its very complex origin and development of leukemogenesis. Here, we want to summarize and update the recent applications of natural compounds in the treatment of leukemia

Hypoxia and HIF signaling: One axis with divergent effects

The correct concentration of oxygen in all tissues is a hallmark of cellular wellness, and the negative regulation of oxygen homeostasis is able to affect the cells and tissues of the whole organism. The cellular response to hypoxia is characterized by the activation of multiple genes involved in many biological processes. Among them, hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) represents the master regulator of the hypoxia response. The active heterodimeric complex HIF α/β, binding to hypoxia-responsive elements (HREs), determines the induction of at least 100 target genes to restore tissue homeostasis. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that hypoxia signaling can act by generating contrasting responses in cells and tissues. Here, this dual and controversial role of hypoxia and the HIF signaling pathway is discussed, with particular reference to the effects induced on the complex activities of the immune system and on mechanisms determining cell and tissue responses after an injury in both acute and chronic human diseases related to the heart, lung, liver, and kidney

The nebulae around LBVs: a multiwavelength approach

We present first results of our study of a sample of Galactic LBV, aimed to contribute to a better understanding of the LBV phenomenon, by recovering the mass-loss history of the central object from the analysis of its associated nebula. Mass-loss properties have been derived by a synergistic use of different techniques, at different wavelengths, to obtain high-resolution, multi-wavelength maps, tracing the different emitting components coexisting in the stellar ejecta: the ionized/neutral gas and the dust. Evidence for asymmetric mass-loss and observational evidence of possible mutual interaction between gas and dust components have been observed by the comparison of mid-IR (Spitzer/IRAC, VLT/VISIR) and radio (VLA) images of the nebulae, while important information on the gas and dust composition have been derived from Spitzer/IRS spectra.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. To appear in proceedings of 39th Liege International Astrophysical Colloquium: The multi-wavelength view of Hot, Massive Star

A Note on Money and the Conduct of Monetary Policy

Prior to the financial crisis mainstream monetary policy practice had become disconnected from money. We outline the basic rationale for this development using a simple model of money and credit in which we explore the conditions under which money matters directly for the conduct of policy. Then, drawing on Goodfriend and McCallum's (2007) DSGE model, we examine the circumstances under which money becomes more closely linked to inflation. We find that money matters when the variance of the supply of lending dominates productivity and the velocity of money demand. This is because amplifying the role of loans supply leads to an expansion in aggregate demand, via a compression of the external finance premium, which is inflationary. We consider a number of alternative monetary policy rules, and find that a rule which exploits the joint information from money and the external finance premium performs best

The social and economic bases of network multiplexity: Exploring the emergence of multiplex ties

The goal of this article is to shed light on the role of tie content in the evolution of multiplex ties – i.e., ties featuring both an economic and a social component – in interorganizational networks. The authors clarify and extend the theoretical framework on network multiplexity by testing the extent to which two distinct tie content-related logics – social interaction and economic exchange – and their underlying mechanisms lead to the emergence of multiplex ties. Results from a longitudinal network analysis of firms located in an Italian multimedia cluster support the authors’ hypotheses, confirming that both social and economic drivers contribute to the emergence of network multiplexity, and that social ties have a stronger impact than economic ties on this process, thus providing further insight into the microdynamics of network evolution

Persistent Habits, optimal Monetary Policy Inertia and Interest Rate Smoothing

Dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models featuring imperfect competition and nominal rigidities have become central for the analysis of the monetary transmission mechanism and for understanding the conduct of monetary policy. However, it is agreed that the benchmark model fails to generate the persistence of output and inflation that is observed in the data. Moreover, it cannot provide a theoretically well-grounded justification for the interest rate smoothing behaviour of monetary authorities. This paper attempts to overcome these deficiencies by embedding a multiplicative habit specification in a New Keynesian model. We show that this particular form of habit formation can explain why monetary authorities smooth interest rates